If you are searching for the best web hosting UK picks in 2024, you’re in the right place!
As I am a paying customer for these services, I gathered rock sold data on how these web hosting providers actually perform for those in the UK.
Below, you will find a transparent look into such things as uptime, speed, servers, price, customer support, and much more. Let’s get started! 🇬🇧🤓
For those in a rush, here are some of my favourite web hosting providers for those in the UK.
Rank | Web Host | Best For | Free Domain | Uptime | Speed | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | BlueHost UK | Bloggers/ Small Businesses | Yes | 99.99% | 550ms | £3.19/month |
2. | SiteGround UK | Bloggers/ Small Businesses | No | 99.99% | 455ms | £5.99/month |
3. | HostGator | Bloggers | Yes | 99.97% | 636ms | £3.75/month |
4. | Hostinger UK | Small Websites | No | 99.90% | 730ms | £0.99/month |
5. | A2 Hosting | Small Businesses | No | 99.91% | 580ms | £3.10/mo |
Best Web Hosting UK Services: Top 13 Picks Of 2024
1. BlueHost: Best Overall UK Web Hosting Provider
Overview: Founded in 1996, BlueHost is one of the oldest and most recognised web hosting providers in the industry. Currently, they host over 2,500,000 websites worldwide and are also WordPress’s top recommendation.
This WordPress recommendation carries a lot of weight as WordPress runs 34% of all websites in the world. Even sites like CNN, National Geographic, and TechCrunch opt for WordPress.
This recommendation also carried a lot of weight in my decision, which is why my very own website (hostreviews.co.uk) is hosted with BlueHost. So I stand by my recommendation.
But as we all know, popular does not always mean good. From my experience, I have found Bluehost backs up this recommendation by offering a great product, which covers all the bases.
Some of the things that I have benefited from while using Bluehost for this website and business are:
- Knowledgable staff that helped me resolve plugin issues
- 1-click WordPress install (takes about 2-minutes)
- Free domain name & SSL certificate
- Unmetered bandwidth
- No hidden nasty fees
- 99.99% Uptime
- 24/7/365 customer support
- £3.19/month
These reasons alone have allowed me and millions of others to get their websites online in a quick, easy, and affordable manner.
Ok, but what about speeds and uptime for UK based sites/ businesses?
From my own experience, I have found Bluehost to moderately fast speeds across my entire UK based website. On average, my speeds receive are around 550ms (when pinged from London) and an average uptime of 99.99%.
If you want to get a better feel for how Bluehost performs, please navigate around my website 🙂.
So is Bluehost the fast web host in the industry? Definitely not. But for those looking to make their first website that reliably loads fast, Bluehost does a great job. However, if you are a speed junkie, Bluehost does have free integration with Cloudflare for lightning-fast speeds!
Overall, I have been extremely impressed with BlueHost, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone starting a blog, small business, portfolio, or e-commerce store in the UK. Highly recommended!
P.S. I’ve also written a step-by-step guide on how to make a website from scratch with BlueHost + WordPress.
- Site migration fee
- Slightly pushy up-sells
- Great customer support
- 1-click WordPress Install
- Beginner friendly host
- Charges in GBP
- Recommended by WordPress
- Free domain & SSL
2. SiteGround: Fastest Web Hosting For UK Websites
Overview: Another leading provider in the web hosting landscape is non-other than SiteGround. This company has been around since 2004 and hosts over 1,500,000 websites worldwide and counting.
Much like BlueHost, SiteGround also boasts a long laundry list of benefits that they have refined over the years, which include:
- 1-click WordPress installs
- Famous customer service
- Fast load times for UK website (455ms)
- Impeccable uptime (99.95%)
- Low introductory pricing
SiteGround is also WordPress’s number 3 top recommended web host.
However, one of the standout benefits of using SiteGround is their server locations which can be found in the US, Singapore, United Kingdom (London), and the Netherlands.
Having servers located in the UK means that SiteGround delivers less latency and faster speeds to UK visitors visiting a local based UK website. Below is a speed test of a SiteGround website tested from London 😱.
Ok, so SiteGround is an all-round great web host with lightning fast speeds and servers in the UK, so why is it ranked in second place?
While I use and love SiteGround, I had to bring it down in my rankings due to two factors. The first being that they don’t include a free domain name or SSL certificate. And second, being their limited storage of 10GB.
By no means are these two things deal breakers, but for value for money, BlueHost just edged ahead. Overall SiteGround is one hell of a host and I challenge another host to get faster speeds.
- No free domain or SSL certificate
- Limited bandwidth
- High renewal pricing
- Exceptional customer support
- 1-click WordPress Install
- Great for beginners
- Charges in GBP
- Recommended by WordPress
3. HostGator: Best Cloud Web Host
Overview: Founded in 2002, HostGator was one of the first-ever hosts to provide a shared web hosting experience. This expertise has now led to having 1.5 million hosted websites and 1,000 employees.
Next up on my list is HostGator, which I have been a paying customer for just over 8 years. I originally picked HostGator because they had (and still do) have a value-packed shared web hosting plan starting from £2.13/mo.
But where HostGator is really standing out is with the relatively new cloud hosting options. In short, Cloud hosting is great for scalability, redundancies, integrated caching, speed, and security, to name a few.
HostGator’s Cloud hosting plan starts from £3.90/mo and includes 2GB of memory, 2 core CPU, a single domain, a free SSL certificate, and a site performance dashboard.
As for the speeds, I have clocked speeds of around 116ms first response time from ping results located in London.
Overall HostGator is an all-round great web host that has cemented themselves in the industry as one of the best.
- No free domain
- Not recommended by WordPress
- Crazy low entry pricing
- 1-click WordPress Install
- Easy to learn for beginners
- Unmetered storage
- Beginner friendly
4. Hostinger: Cheapest UK Web Hosting Option
Ok, so I’ll come out straight away and address the elephant in the room when it comes to Hostinger. And that is their 80p/mo hosting price for their entry-level shared web hosting plan. Yup, you heard that right, it’s only 80p/mo.
Naturally, when we see prices this cheap, alarm bells start to ring of a poor-quality product or service. However, this isn’t the case with Hostinger. This low price is due to them running a 90% discount from their original price of £7.99/mo.
So what would one expect for a price of only 80p/mo? Here are some of Hostingers stand out features:
- 10GB of SSD storage
- UK based servers
- 100GB of bandwidth
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- 24/7/365 customer support
- cPanel and 1-click WP install
Not too bad, right? Many of these benefits are on par with their competitors, but just at a 90% discount.
As a bonus, Hostinger also has UK based servers for fast speeds around the 730ms range.
While Hostinger is a standout provider, my only gripe would have to be their minimal storage and the lack of a free domain name or SSL certificate (which will set you back around £30).
5. A2 Hosting: Best For E-Commerce Businesses
Another great web host that gets overshadowed by the bigger players is A2 Hosting. However, when I drill down into their features, they are on par with a provider like BlueHost.
At a quick glance, A2 Hosting provides some stellar benefits such as unlimited bandwidth, unlimited storage, 99.91% uptime, 24/7 customer support, and 1-click WordPress installation. Not to mention support for Drupal and Joomla.
A2 Hosting also has the advantage of having servers located in three countries around the world. These are the USA, Singapore and the Netherlands. So no matter where a visitor is viewing your website, they will get great speeds.
As for the price, A2 Hosting’s beginner shared plan starts at £3.10/mo, which includes all the above-mentioned features. Unfortunately, there is no free domain or SSL included, however, free site transfers are included.
6. GreenGeeks: Best Carbon Positive Web Host
Moving onto the next provider on my best web hosting UK list is GreenGeeks. As the name suggests, this provider is a completely carbon positive provider. They, in fact, produce twice as much renewable energy as they use.
So if you are freaking out about climate change (like I am after watching the Big Flood), then this might be the web host to give you that peace of mind.
What about when it comes to pricing, server locations, and specifications? Surprisingly, GreenGeeks does exceptionally well. They offer up unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, free SSL and domain and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
GreenGeeks also provides an uptime guarantee of 99.90%, and speeds in the 300ms range from their Netherlands based web servers. As for the price, their shared plans start from £3.00/mo, which is exceptional value.
7. HostPapa: Best Small Website Host
Up next is another exceptional web host that really does offer great bang for buck value. And that is HostPapa.
While HostPapa is a Canadian owned and operated business, they service customers in every continent, with also having an office based out of London.
As for their service, HostPapa really does offer up a TON of value. Here are some of their most notable features for new users:
- Two website hosting
- Free .com/ .co.uk domain
- Free SSL certificate
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Free CDN
- 99.96% uptime
- Linux servers
- Free site transfers
Another major win for HostPapa is that they offer multilingual support in languages such as French, Spanish, and German. As per usual, they also provide 24/7 support for phone, email and even fax!
When it comes to this service’s price, HostPapa’s prices are very competitively aimed towards those on a budget, coming in at only £1.95/mo for their beginner plan.
While HostPapa is strong in almost every area, after a few speeds tests, it seems that their speeds are below its competitors (around 1 second load time on average). Beyond that, HostPapa is a fantastic web host.
8. WebHostingUK: Best UK Based Web Host
Here we have the first owned and operated UK based web host that lives and breathes all things hosting. Founded in 2001, WebHosting.uk.com has built up a 35,000 customer base and currently hosts over 2,000,000 websites.
When looking further into their shared hosting plan, which starts from £2.49/mo. It includes many great benefits such as unmetered bandwidth, unlimited databases, free .org.uk, .co.uk, me.uk domain and a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
As an added bonus, Web Hosting UK also has web servers located in Maidenhead, Reading, Nottingham, Wakefield, and Manchester.
However, there are two major downsides to this service. The first being the limited 5GB SSD storage and the clunky user interface.
While other providers can get a website within 5 minutes, this doesn’t seem to be the case with this provider. But, if you can get past these obstacles, this is a great UK based hosting provider.
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9. FastHosts: Best UK Host For Joomla & Drupal Website
Moving onto the next pick on my list is FastHosts, which is another premier UK based web hosting solution. This provider has been around since 1991, has over 250,000 customers, 1.5 million websites hosted, and offices located in London and Wales.
When comparing their service to other UK based providers, FastHosts services were some of the best I had come across.
At a glimpse, their core features are 10GB SSD storage, free .co.uk, .uk, .uk, .london, com domains, 5 email boxes, PHP 7.3, unlimited bandwidth, Windows servers and CMS like WP, Joomla, and Drupal.
All of these features and then some are included in their price of £2.50/mo, which is 50% from its original £5.00/mo price tag. Just keep note that these prices don’t include VAT. For a more in-depth look, check out my full FastHosts review.
10. Heart Internet: Best UK Based Cloud Web Host
Lastly on my list is another UK based provider, which is the one-stop-shop for cloud hosting. For a full rundown on the advantages of cloud hosting and what it exactly is. You can scroll down to my “different types of hosting section”.
For those in a rush, cloud hosting in the process of being able to scale up or down your website with one command. There are also added advantages of speed, redundancies, and security.
As for Heart Internets base shared could hosting plan, it starts at £3.99/mo (not including 20% VAT). This plan includes 1 website, 10GB storage, 50GB monthly bandwidth, 1,000, and mailboxes.
While this is a phenomenal cloud hosting plan, there are some downsides. The ones that stand out have definitely got to be the £10.00 setup fee (which is very uncommon in the industry), no MySQL Databases, and the limited 50GB bandwidth.
On the flip side of the coin, Heart Internet does have data servers in Leeds, which will deliver up lightning-fast speeds.
Overall, Heart Internet is still a great provider, even with its plan limitations.
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UK Web Hosting Comparison Overview
After testing multiple web hosting providers in the UK in 2024 and tracking speeds and uptime, here is an overview of our top recommendations for those in the United Kingdom.
- BlueHost (Best Overall Web Host)
- SiteGround (Fastest UK Web Host)
- HostGator (Great Value Option)
- Hostinger (Cheapest Web Host)
- A2 Hosting (Best For UK Servers)
Common Web Hosting Terms
If you have just read through my UK web hosting reviews and thinking, “what that devil does SSD mean?” or “what’s the difference between unlimited and unmetered?”.
Then don’t fret, I will breakdown some of the most common terms used in web hosting so you can better be informed.
By understanding these terms, you can make more well-informed decisions and sound like a pro the next time web hosting comes up in conversation!
Every time you load a page, those files have to be sent over the internet to your computer/ smart device from a server. This ebb and flow of information over the internet is called bandwidth, or in another way, the transfer of data.
Just like one of those old rickety filing cabinets, the same goes for storing files online. So when a web host provider states “there is 10GB of storage”, this is the limit to the number of files you can store.
On average, a WordPress website is about 1-2GB so even 10GB of SSD storage should be more than enough for your website.
Simply put, uptime is the amount of time your website is successfully operating online. So in a perfect world, we would want an uptime of 100% as this means our website wouldn’t even be down for 1 second.
But due to system upgrades and maintenance, there are always interruptions which brings the uptime down to a number of about 99.80%.
A majority of the time, hosting providers will throw words around like unlimited and unmetered to show how extensive their servers are. But in reality, there is no such thing.
Instead, it should be written as “Unmetered storage and bandwidth, within reason”. Because if it was truly “unlimited”, I’m pretty sure FaceBook would love to host their entire platform for only £3.00/mo.
When it comes to the difference between unmetered and unlimited, there really isn’t one. These two words essentially mean the same thing.
Another confusing term used is in reference to the type of hardware that servers use to store website files on. Essentially there is only SSD (which is faster) and HDD (slower), which stands for Solid State Drive and Hard Disk Drive.
Ok, so what’s the difference? An SSD is much like a Micro SD card or a USB stick in which the files are stored on a microchip with no moving parts. On the other hand, an HDD uses a mechanical arm (kind of like a record player) that reads and writes information onto a spinning storage platter.
So when possible, try and opt for SSD as the speeds are 5 to 10 times as fast.
I bet my life savings that you’ve used either Windows or Mac OS at one point or another. Well, Linux is in the same playing field as it too is an operating system. What’s even more incredible is that Linux runs almost everything from phones, computers, cars, and so much more.
Linux is the preferred and go-to operating system for web servers as it is very easy to manage and is a set and forget solution.
Just like when we build a house or make a cake, we first need to make a foundation to add things on top of. Well, the same applies to websites. When we start making a website, we need to pick a website builder (like WordPress), so we can add posts, pages, themes, plugins and heaps more.
But why WordPress? Simply put, WordPress is by far the most popular and widely used website builder in the world. There are estimates that it runs close to 34% of all websites online. Some other advantages are that WordPress is very easy to learn and is completely free!
Also known as a Secure Sockets Layer, an SSL is a protocol that encrypts a visitors data between the server and a website. Having an SSL certificate is essential as Google has stated there may be penalties if you don’t have one.
A domain name, also known as a “web address” is the title of your website which will allow people to find you. There are various domain name extensions available (889 in total to be exact) that also allow one to show the type of website they operate. For example, a website in the UK would, of course, want to use a .co.uk or a .uk extension.
Typically, a web host will include a free domain name (for one year) into their hosting plans, saving a customer several pounds.
How To Setup a Successful UK Website For Fast Speeds & More Traffic!
After making dozens upon dozens of websites over the past 9 years. I have made a lot of mistakes and have had to learn some lessons the hard way.
So to save you the same headaches and get you off on the right track. Here are some fundamental step that I apply to almost every website that I make.
Always Compress Or Convert Your Images!
Do you remember the days of dial-up when we had to painstakingly wait for a webpage to load? (Geez, am I really that old?).
While this was commonplace in the ’90s and the early noughties, I am still coming across websites that are loading uncompressed or unconverted images at full size!
As a web designer, this absolutely crushes my soul! When we load a webpage with a large uncompressed image (that can sometimes be 5 megabytes in size), we are getting that same delayed loading effect that is so last decade!
Take the below image, for example. The original image is in PNG format with a size of 1.1Mb. But when converted to JPG, it is now only 0.1Mb. Also, can you tell the difference in quality? I definitely can’t!
Another thing to take into account is that if you have 5 uncompressed images on one post or page. This equates to 5Mb that the user has to load each time on their device. And that is the best-case scenario. End result is 90’s worthy load times.
No, thank you!
Ok, so how does one avoid this? The fastest and easiest way I have found is to use a free online converter like PNG2JPEG or JpegCompressor.
These free tools allow you to upload an image, let it wave its magic want, then voila! You now have a compressed or converted image that is ready to be uploaded to your website.
Install a Caching Plugin
Another sure-fire way to speed up your blog or website is to install a caching plugin. Whether you are using WordPress, Drupal or Joomla, there will be caching plugins to download for free to instantly boost your website’s performance.
Before I go any further and start confusing you, let me first cover what exactly a caching plugin is.
This will be a weird analogy, but stay with me…
You know those cooking shows where they make the roast dinner, put it in the oven, then magically bring out a preprepared one from earlier on? Well, caching works in a similar way.
Once a caching plugin is installed, it is able to deliver up a “pre-cooked/ preloaded” version of your page for the visitor to load. Just like the roast dinner, this means a visitor won’t have to wait around for a long time for a page to load/ bake.
So before you get stuck into your new website, installing a caching plugin is always worthwhile as it will do wonders for your website. Personally, I use WP Super Cache for this WordPress website you are on. There are also others available like W3 Total Cache and WP Rocket.
To fully optimise your caching plugin, you can also tweak the advanced settings for an even fast caching experience. This is a great guide from HostGator that walks you through step by step on how to set up the plugin.
Use a Premium Theme (When Possible)
After being a web designer after 4 years, you think I would have learnt my lesson and invested in a premium theme?
But… you’d be wrong!
As I am a frugal person at heart (border lining on obsession), I tend to avoid any expense when possible, especially when it comes to my business.
But after 4 years of using free WordPress themes, which can be great, I got sick and tired of not being able to access the extra features which were behind a paywall. These “restricted features” typically include the layout of the theme, colours, fonts, button location and heaps more.
So after 4 years, I finally invested in a suite of premium WordPress themes.
And OMG, was it amazing!
It is a weird thing to get excited about, but I was ecstatically designing a website on a theme with no design restrictions.
Not only did it allow me to do more with the design. It also saved me tons of time as there was less to adjust as these are professionally built themes. Another massive advantage is that these themes were built for speed. Like serious speed!
While there are thousands of free themes on WordPress, which are usually built by one person. A professional theme is built by a team of professional developers so they can really optimise the speed, SEO and design of a theme. Not to mention I get regular updates and support.
So what premium theme am I using then? Well, for the past 2 years, I have been using the StudioPress suite of themes which was a one-time payment and it included close to 70 different types of themes.
These include non-profit themes, small business themes, travel blog themes, e-commerce themes and heaps more!
So now anytime I make a particular type of website, I simply install one of these themes and boom! I now have a great looking website.
Keep Plugins To a Minimum
When first making a website, users tend to be really trigger happy and start installing plugins left right and centre.
However, this can be a big mistake.
Every time someone installs a plugin, they are making their website bloated with more code and HTML for an internet browser to load. As you might have guessed, this results in a slow load time.
While plugins are an extremely useful component of any website. One thing you should ask yourself before installing is “do I really need this plugin?”. And try and be brutal about it.
From my own experience, 8/10 times you simply won’t need that plugin for your website. And if you are to look a little deeper, you will see that WordPress actually has many inbuilt features that make plugins obsolescent.
Take tables and image sliders for example. In the recent WordPress Gutenberg update, these features are built right in and require no extra plugins!
Or what about those social sharing buttons? While those were the rage a few years ago, their use has almost died off completely. So again, it really is worthwhile to ask yourself whether or not you need that plugin.
Use a CDN (Content Delivery Network)
If you are just new to making websites, there really is a TON of information to absorb. To keep it simple, I will try and break down the definition of a CDN and how it can take a website’s speed to an interstellar level.
A CDN, which stands for Content Delivery Network is the process of taking a live copy of your website and then distributing it to multiple servers around the globe.
But how is this different from traditional web hosting?
Well, with normal hosting, there will be one version of your website stored on one server and in one location. So no matter where an internet surfer is from, all the website files have to stem from that one location.
A CDN on the other hand, which distributes dozens of copies of your website around the globe, can load files from the closest location to the internet surfer.
This simply means that there is less distance for the files to travel, resulting in lower latency and an almost instant load time.
Hopefully that wasn’t too confusing…
While CDN’s have only been around for a few years, their growth has been through the roof as bloggers and website makers are now seeing the power of this new technology.
What’s even more unbelievable is that you can get a CDN for free. Yup. Absolutely free! One of the biggest players in the industry in CloudFlare which enables users to connect a CDN to an existing WordPress blog.
To get started, you can read this awesome tutorial which walks you through how to setup CloudFlare for free. This make take 30 minutes or so todo, but it is totally worth it!
Test Your Website Speed With An Online Tool
To see how your website is tracking speed wise, you can use free online speed test tools to see where things can be improved.
I typically run these audits on my own websites to see how they are performing over time and to see if anything needs to be tweaked.
Some standout tools are Googles Page Speed Insights, Pingdom, GTmetrix and Bitcatcha. For tools like Pingdom and Bitcatcha, you can actually see how fast your website is loading from various cities around the world.
These same tools also show speed tests from London and other European cities to get a sense of how a UK-based website performs.
Learn SEO For More Web Traffic
I’m going to throw another term your way which you have most likely heard of at one point or another. And that is SEO. Which is short for Search Engine Optimisation.
SEO is the art and science of optimising your website, content and external things such as links to enhance your websites position in the Google search results.
Learning the fundamentals of SEO can have positive long-lasting and very impactful results for your blog, small business or e-commerce store. This will result in more website traffic which equates to more earnings, leads and inquires.
Also like many practises, there are many different ways to get to the same destination. But after doing web design and SEO for 9 years, I have come to learn what’s important and what’s not.
Instead of going into more depth, you can start off by learning from some of the industry’s best. Neil Patel and Brian Dean provide free gold nuggets of information for beginner and advanced levels.
Pick a Good Web Host
This one might be super obvious, but sometimes we can do all the right things and still not get what we expect.
One way to prevent this from happening is to try and pick a reputable and dependable web host that will give their customers great uptime and fast speeds.
While there are some free web hosting options available out there. They simply don’t provide the service you would get from a premium host like BlueHost or SiteGround.
These so-called “free web hosting” providers are also severely limited to the type of service they deliver and typically charge large upgrade pricing for their plans.
I personally use and recommend BlueHost and I also use it to host this very website you are on right now.
How I Ranked The Best UK Web Hosting Picks
When it came to picking the best UK web hosts for this list, each provider was put through my checklist process of various factors.
These factors determined if they deserved a spot and secondly where each one should be ranked. So here are the things that I considered when choosing each of the web hosts on this list.
Fast Speeds Is a Must
Living in the 21st century, speed is of critical importance. Especially when it comes to websites.
Do you remember the last time you waited around for 5 seconds for a website to load? Neither can I. We simply don’t have the patience anymore. Damn millennials! Wait, that’s me.
Because of this, I have only included web host providers that deliver speeds in the sub-one seconds range. This is will ensure that visitors to your website will have the best user experience possible.
There many obvious benefits to having a fast website, but here are a few you may not have considered.
Lower bounce rate (the percentage of people the leave your website without clicking a link or another page), increased SEO ranking, high conversions and better customer satisfaction. For more advantages of a fast website, this is a great place to start.
Great & Knowledgable Customer Support
Another thing that was critical when coming up with this guide was, of course, customer support. Those who have experienced both horrible and fantastic support know the importance of helpful staff and team members.
Since great customer support is such a critical cog in the machine, I have included web hosts that excel in customer service.
Whether that be assisting customers in WordPress configuration, Drupal, e-commerce, SEO, server allocation, resource management and the list goes on.
I have also tried to include web hosting companies that provide 24/7 around the clock support combined with chat and ticketing support.
Consistent & High Uptime Numbers
If you haven’t already realised, there is a lot of lingo used in web hosting that is confusing to say the least.
Uptime is definitely one of those terms! So what is it?
Simply put, uptime is the percentage of time in a given time period, typically by day, week, month and year in which a website is successfully hosted online by a companies web server.
As a customer, we, of course, want our website to be seen by visitors and customers throughout the whole day. Especially if it is a small business or food service website that is taking orders.
So by having a rock-solid uptime number that is 99.80% and above is critical to this. Anything lower than 99.80% is simply unacceptable as this could equate to hours in every month of your website not being online.
1-click WordPress Installation
As I touched on briefly above in some of my reviews. WordPress is the most widely used CMS (Content Management System) in the world.
So odds are that you’ll be making a website with WordPress, which is what this website is also built with.
Since WordPress is such an integral part in creating a website. I have only chosen web hosting providers in the UK that provide 1-click WordPress installs.
This means that after signing up, you’ll literally be able to get online within 5 minutes and have your very own website to share to the world.
Are Domains, SSL Certificates Or Anything Else Included?
Out of all the industries out there, web hosting is by far one of the most competitive with providers climbing over each other to get new customers.
One way in which providers incentivise new customers is by throwing in free extras and add-ons that can convert fence-sitters into customers.
But as we know, a lot of the time, these so-called “extras” are only gimmicks and something that we would never be used.
But when it comes to web hosting, many companies will actually include extras that provide a lot of value. Some of the stand out ones are free domains, free SSL certificates, free premium email and free Google Adsense credits to name a few.
These extras are things that I for one have taken advantage of many times before when signing up with a hosting provider. At a minimum, I have strived to include UK web hosts that provide a free domain or SSL certificate as standard.
Server Location
Last but least on my list of things that I considered is of course server location.
Just like when you store physical files in a filing cabinet in your office or at work, the same goes for internet files. These digital files need to be stored on a server/ computer in which they can be distributed over the internet.
These servers are located throughout the world and are littered in almost every city in the UK and Europe.
Ok, so what’s the point?
Well, by having your digital files stored on a server in London or Europe, the speeds and latency will be much faster for an internet surfer who are from these same geographic locations.
Instead of sending files from a server in the US via fibre optic cable under the oceans. Having a local server say in London or Dublin reduces the distance between a visitor and the server.
While server location definitely has its bonuses, there are many new technologies such as CDN’s that will make copies of your files on dozens of servers throughout the world.
So while server location was important back in the day, especially for local UK businesses. It isn’t so much now with the advent of CDN’s and caching.
Different Types Of Web Hosting Available For UK Users
When it comes to web hosting, there are literally thousands of providers to choose from. Once you have landed on a provider, then comes the challenge of picking the type of web hosting that best suits your needs and budget.
As we like to keep things simple here at hostreviews.co.uk. Here are the most popular types of web hosting broken down in a simple and easy to understand way.
Shared Web Hosting (Cheapest & Most Affordable Option)
Out of all the hosting options available, shared web hosting is by far the most accessible and affordable to those making their first website.
Ok, so what is shared web hosting?
As the name suggests, shared web hosting is where you share a server with other customers.
While hosting providers don’t say how many other customers you share with, it can range from a few hundred to a few thousand.
This shared environment is made possible as these servers/ computers can store hundreds of terabytes of information on their systems. So while your website might seem big with all its files. In reality, it is actually quite small in the grand scheme of things.
Another way I like to describe shared web hosting is like living in an apartment building. You as an owner are still able to receive all the nice fittings and luxuries, just on a smaller scale, which is a lot cheaper.
So in a real-world scenario, a shared hosting user still gets access to a cPanel, SSD storage, customer support, Linux hosting, CPU and RAM. Which you can get with VPS and dedicated hosting. It’s just a smaller version.
For those who have ever shared anything, know there can be some downside. Also known as the tragedy of the commons.
One downside is that if others are using a lot of resources and bandwidth on the server. This may slow down the overall speed of the server and throttle the performance for everyone. However, providers are quick to give a quick slap to the wrist of those who are abusing these resources.
As for the price, shared hosting usually costs between $2-$10 per month depending on the provider and the features. To learn more, this is a great place to start.
VPS Web Hosting (A Step Up In Speed, Storage & Price)
Next in the lineup of hosting options is Virtual Private Server hosting. Also commonly referred to as VPS hosting.
At its core, VPS hosting is essentially the same as shared hosting. But with one major difference.
While on a shared server, one would typically be sharing storage and bandwidth with hundreds or thousands of other websites. This results in a user getting a fraction of a percent of resources to themselves.
A VPS server takes that same fundamental of sharing and simply gives you a dedicated percentage of a server. So instead of having a slight sliver of the pie, a VPS will give you a healthy slice that will allow a website to prosper.
Another difference between shared and VPS is that you will be sharing with other VPS clients. Which are typically hosted on a more advanced server hardware.
As an example, a standard VPS plan gives a user 2 cores, 30GB of SSD storage, 2GB of RAM, 1 TB of bandwidth and 1-2 different IP address.
So who is VPS best suited for? Well, from my own experience, VPS is best for those who have outgrown their current shared hosting plan.
Since the prices are significantly more (usually about $20-$100/mo), it is a large expense for a website that is getting no traffic. To learn more, this is an awesome guide on the topic.
Dedicated Web Hosting (For The Ultimate Solution In Hosting)
If shared web hosting is the equivalent of living in an apartment. Then dedicated hosting is the equivalent of living in a mansion in the middle of London.
In almost every way possible, there is more space (well maybe not in London 😉), more SSD storage, more power, more RAM, more GPU, more options and more cost.
Unlike shared or VPS hosting, dedicated hosting is for those who want complete control over their server and are more introverted (don’t have to share with anyone else).
Some specifics one can expect from a dedicated server is 4 cores at 2.3 GHz, 1TB mirrored storage, 8 GB RAM, 10TB bandwidth and 4 IP address.
As for the price, it will set you back a cool $99.99/mo and only goes up in price from there. So unless you are getting millions of visitors to your website per month. This option is generally reserved for large traffic websites. You can learn more about dedicated web hosting here.
WordPress Managed Web Hosting (A Personalised Hosting Experience)
Up next is a more personalised experience for someone who is after a hands-off web hosting approach.
WordPress managed hosted is essentially shared web hosting with the added benefit that someone takes care of all the nitty-gritty for you.
So instead of you having to log in your dashboard and update things like themes and plugins. There will be a representative who will take care of this for you.
Also if there are any bugs or issues within your WordPress website, the provider can send in a developer and resolve it quick-smart!
While this service does come at a premium (from $20/mo), it will allow say a small business owner to focus on other more important things. This is an awesome guide to learn more about WordPress managed hosting.
Cloud Hosting (Great For Scalability & Speed)
Last but not least in this mugshot lineup of web hosts is Cloud web hosting. Even though “the cloud” is now a commonplace term. Many are still confused as to what exactly it is and how it differs from its counterparts.
So what is cloud hosting?
To first understand what this mysterious technology is, we first have to understand what a traditional hosting infrastructure is like.
As with shared, VPS and dedicated hosting, they are all hosted on one physical server in one physical location. While a suitable option, there are scalability, redundancies and speed limitations.
On the other hand, a cloud hosting network takes this same infrastructure of one location/ server and multiplies it across several servers and locations around the world. This is what we call the cloud as it is not in one tangible location, but kind of everywhere. Just like an actual cloud.
When it comes to the benefits of cloud hosting, a user is able to scale up or down with ease and allows for much greater security and redundancy.
Say for example there is a hardware malfunction and data is lost. In most cases, this would be a disaster. But with cloud hosting, there are multiple versions of ones files all around the world so there is no weak point in the chain.
Hopefully I didn’t botch that too much! If I did, this is a really simple and easy to follow explanation on cloud hosting.
.com Vs .co.uk Domains… Which Is Best?
After making dozens of websites for clients, friends and family, one question that is always on the front of everyone’s mind is should I get a .com or a .co.uk/ .uk domain?
To their annoyance, my answer is that it depends… Let me explain.
To answer this question, I always ask my clients where they want their internet traffic to come from. This simple question should determine what type of domain name will best suit ones website.
Take a local kebab shop for example. This is a local business with customers that will be coming from the UK. So in this instance, it is an obvious choice to use a .co.uk or .uk as this is where your target audience is.
On the other end of the spectrum, say you plan on creating an e-commerce store that sells cat toys.
Do you only want to target customers in England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland? If so, a co.uk domain is a good fit. However, if you plan on shipping to other continents, a .com would be a more ideal option as you can cater to a worldwide audience.
One thing to note is that if you choose a .co.uk, you may be cornering your website/ e-commerce store as you are limiting yourself to a UK audience.
That isn’t to say that you cant always target international traffic. It will just be confusing to a visitor from the US if they are visiting a store labelled cattoy.co.uk.
To learn more, I have written an in-depth guide on the .com VS .co.uk debate with examples for each website and what would best suite.
UK Vs US Based Servers… Does It Really Matter?
Another common question I get asked about server location and whether or not it makes a difference to your website speed and latency, especially for websites targeting a UK audience.
In short, server location does make a significant speed and difference for local internet searchers. This is purely put down to the fact that there is less latency between a UK based server and a UK internet searcher.
In other words, opting for a local server means there is less distance for the data to travel between the server and the person visiting your website. End result is a faster web site.
While server location is important, it is not a be-all and end-all scenario as there are other alternatives.
Let me introduce you to the magic of a CDN. Also known as a Content Delivery Network. In a nutshell, a CDN is a system in which a provider will make several, or in some cases dozens of copies of your website files.
From there, they will then distribute these copied files to dozens of servers throughout the globe. So instead of your files being located on one physical server, they are not dozens of duplicates. Ok, but what is the advantage of this?
Well, the biggest advantage is that whenever someone visits your website from, whether it be from Germany or Australia, a CDN will delivery of the closest version server with a copy of your website on it.
Say for example someone if visiting your website from Ireland. Instead of loading your website from a London-based server, it will instead trigger the Dublin-based server, giving visitors an almost instant load time.
So while server location is important, it is becoming less and less important moving ahead as CDN’s are taking over. Best of all is that there are free CDN’s that website users can utilise like CloudFlare CDN that have servers located in Manchester, Edinburgh, London, Ireland and throughout the rest of Europe. You can see the full list here.
Why I Picked International Based Hosting Providers (Mainly)
As you might have noticed, I have only included international based web hosting providers in my list. But why?
Simply put, it comes down to their larger range of benefits such as speed, uptime, compatibility, and support. As these larger providers have millions of customers, they have really mastered proving reliable and fast services to the masses.
Also due to the large scale of these companies and their large data centres, they are typically able to provide very reasonable pricing, which typically starts from only a few pounds a month.
While you might be able to find a web host in the UK for a similar price, odds are that they will only offer up a slither of the features.
Another factor to consider is that local UK based web hosting companies simply don’t have as many resources and redundancies in place is something was to go wrong.
On the other hand, with larger scale hosting providers, they have multiple redundancies across multiple servers and across multiple continents. So if for someone reason the server in which your website is hosted on crashes, or if there is a hardware malfunction, there are multiple backups in place.
Conclusion Of Web Hosting UK Picks
After thorough testing for speeds, uptime, value for money, and customer satisfaction, we have found BlueHost web hosting to be the best recommendation for those in the UK as it covers all the essentials at an affordable price.